páthos
by SSSRHA
Summary: It started with the new boy at Camp. It ended with me stained red. I couldn't help but descend into madness. Post-PJO pre-HoO. [On hiatus]
1. dazed

**_part one:_**

 ** _dazed_**

 **It started** with a boy. A boy who came to camp at midnight. A boy with blond hair and blue eyes and a bright smile.

I met him the next morning. He gave me a huge grin and said, "Hi, my name's Niles Northway, it's nice to meet you!"

I looked down at the twelve-year-old's hand, then back up to his face. Then I smiled. "Hi Miles, I'm Percy Jackson."

Niles pouted. "Not Miles, _Niles!_ Like, with an _N."_

I laughed. "Like the Nile River?"

"Yes!"

"Well then, nice to meet you, Niles." And we shook hands.

He went and did the same thing with everyone else at breakfast. He chatted brightly with Will Solace, wore a grin that made me shudder with the Stoll brothers, and wasted absolutely no time in starting up a rivalry with a boy from Ares cabin, Sanders Urichi.

And when he shook hands with Annabeth, his cheeks went slightly red and he started stuttering about how he had other things to do while Annabeth giggled. I chuckled softly. The kid was honestly adorable.

 _I should probably tell Annabeth to nip that crush while it's still a bud, though. Might break his heart to realize we're dating when he's actually into her..._

And I chuckled again.

Niles wasted no time in proclaiming to everyone that he was awesome and better than everyone there _especially that prick Sanders!!!_

He promptly failed at every single activity Camp Halfblood had to offer.

I had to admit, though, the kid had a spine of steel, a heart of gold, and a will of fire. When I pushed him down during sword practice, he stood right back up, dusted off his clothes, and charged into the fray with renewed vigor.

Of course, I promptly kicked his butt again, but that's besides the point.

That night, I was strangely not surprised when Apollo claimed him.

And, of course, we all had a good laugh at Niles' complete freak-out when Apollo's symbol appeared above his head.

 _"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"_

 _"Apollo claimed you, moron."_

 _"SHUT UP, SANDERS!"_

Niles continued to suck at pretty much everything. Everyone still adored him though, even Sanders would, when pressed, admit that Niles wasn't the worst person he'd met.

And everyone noticed how a room would brighten up when he walked in. He could make people laugh (intentionally or unintentionally) and made up for his lack of skill with sheer guts and determination.

(And we'd all facepalm when Niles remained oblivious to Hannah Hills, who quite obviously liked him. Not to mention how much everyone cringed in sympathy when Niles proclaimed Hannah to be his _best friend FOREVER!!!)_

Sometimes I would find my eyes randomly drift to him, though. And I would feel this...this _feeling._

It's not love, you creeps. No, I loved Annabeth with all my heart.

When I looked at Niles, I felt something different.

It took me three weeks to figure out what that feeling was.

It was when I was staring down at my steak, suddenly finding it unappetizing. It was when I realized how I had yet to eat a satisfying meal in what felt like weeks.

It was when the voice first appeared. It was when it whispered one, and only one, word into my head.

 ** _Hungry._**

 **tbc**

-

 **Hope you all enjoyed the first installment of this! The chapters in this will be pretty small (like in my other story "Reasons", except this one will have an actual plot).**

 **This is a pre-written short story and it will have four parts. So, yeah, don't worry about me abandoning this.**

 **Remember to Favorite, Follow, and Review! Until next time, this is SSSRHA, signing out!**


	2. horror

**_part two:_**

 ** _horror_**

 **I woke** up at midnight, and I could already tell that something was wrong. Something about the air, how it reeked, how my hands were stiff and covered in something that flaked off whenever I moved.

How there was this...this _taste_ in my mouth that was frighteningly familiar, yet I couldn't place it.

I opened my eyes, just a bit. It took my brain a second to register the red.

And then I had to cover my mouth with my hand because _oh god it's everywhere-_

I looked down at where it came from and realized _nonono this can't be happening-_

And then I saw his bright blond hair, the color of sunshine, and I felt tears in my eyes because _oh god Niles I killed him I killed him **I killed** **him** -_

I resisted the urge to throw up when I examined the body closer and _oh nonono what happened to his fave where is his fave why doesn't he have a face-_

That's when I finally realized what was in my mouth. I finally realized what tasted so familiar.

 ** _Blood._**

And I knew it wasn't mine.

-

 **I was** there for an hour. An hour sitting there, my hand over my mouth, trying to resist the urge to scream.

I felt like I was drowning. I was the son of Poseidon and I was _drowning._

I was drowning in the _red red red it's everywhere-_

I was drowning in Niles' voice _which I had heard just yesterday what have I done why did this happen how is he dead-_

I was drowning in my thoughts because _what am I a monster I'm a monster look at it **it's everywhere-**_

And then the voice appeared for the second time.

 ** _Interesting._**

And I bolted up, picked a random direction, and _ran._ I realized that I was in the forest and that I was lucky that none of the tree nymphs saw what I had done and _what am I thinking I killed him I'm a murderer-_

But I kept running because I was terrified of what I had done _because I killed him and his eyes were so bright and his **smile-**_

I kept running because I was terrified of what I had done _because of god, he was **twelve-**_

I kept running because I was terrified of what I had done _because if someone finds our **I'm dead-**_

I eventually found my way back to camp. It was pure luck that I made it into my cabin without any of the harpies spotting me.

I just sat on the floor, for once thankful that I was the only resident there, and I sobbed.

I sobbed because _I killed an innocent boy-_

I sobbed because _what have I done am I insane-_

But I sobbed the most when the voicevoice came back.

 ** _You don't think you've been set up?_**

And I didn't think I'd been set up _because my hands are red and I still have that taste in my mouth please no-_

And I realized that no matter how much I was drowning, I was still _alive alive alive_ while he was _dead dead **dead-**_

But I was alive. I was a hot mess. I couldn't think straight. So my body followed it's instincts.

 _Survive._

 **tbc**

-

 **Yeah, that was pretty short. But this is a short story, so...**

 **Anyway, if anyone's concerned over the run-on sentences, just know that I did that on purpose. It's supposed to be frantic and convey a sense of dread and horror. That's also the reason I wrote this story in First Person. This story is less about plot and more about Percy's mental breakdown.**

 **Anyway, I think that's it for now. Remember to Favorite, Follow, and Review! Until next time, this is SSSRHA, signing out!**


	3. tension

**part three:**

 **tension**

 **I hauled** a few buckets of water back to my cabin from the lake. It was freshwater so it would clean all the _red red red it's everywhere-_

I couldn't bathe there because surely one of the creatures in the water would realize that _it was red and it wasn't mine-_

So I hauled it back to my cabin from the lake. I stripped off my clothes and washed myself and made sure that I was clean and _it fell of like flakes like they didn't belong to the boy I had **killed-**_

I tried to wash my clothes _but it won't go it's redredred and it won't go-_

And then I remembered that water wouldn't wash it. I remembered Mr. D complaining how much money they wasted on vinegar to get all the clothes clean. I remembered having some on my night stand because I liked vinegar _and now vinegar will pay back the favor and clean my clothes-_

And then I laughed this sick, twisted laugh becausebI was obviously going insane.

So I scrubbed my clothes until the _redredred_ was gone.

I killed the flakes to dissolve in the water and I wiped at all up with a tag and my nose scrunched because _it smelled oh god it smelled-_

I decided to burn it in the campfire that night. No one would question it since it seemed to be a bit of a trend.

And then I climbed into bed, naked, and closed my eyes shut because it was honestly too much and I was tired _and Niles was dead and I wasn't-_

I dreamed I was laughing brightly with Niles and Annabeth and Grover and everyone and then Niles just ran away _and why isn't he running faster why am I chasing him why is he scared what am I doing **what** is **going** on-_

-

 **I stared** blankly down at my meal. Breakfast. The most important meal of the day. Yet they insist on feeding us this sludge. But if I squinted and tilted my head to the side, just a little bit, it looked a little red and it was suddenly a lot more edible and _you **monster** what **is** wrong **with** you-_

And then Will Solace came up to me. He was smiling nervously, his eyes concerned. "Percy, do you know where-Woah, are you okay, dude? You look horrible!"

I hadn't looked in the mirror this morning but I could just imagine how I looked. Ruffled hair, bags under my eyes, and an empty expression.

And I couldn't shake off the feeling that my hands were stained _redredred_ and my breath reeked of _redredred oh **god** it's **everywhere** -_

And I stated into Will's eyes and stopped myself before I could _shake him and scream and beg for forgiveness because I **killed** him **I** killed **him** I **killed** him-_

Instead, I smiled. "Don't worry about me. I just had a rough night."

Will nodded, obviously not believing me, but he let it go because _I'm Percy Jackson the hero of Camp and I can take care of myself and it **obviously** couldn't **be** that **bad-**_

"Do you know where Niles is?" he asked. "Because he never came to Apollo Cabin last night and he isn't here and I'm worried and-"

I smiled and told him that everything was fine and that Niles was probably playing a prank and that he shouldn't worry but _I'm **drowning** all **over** again-_

And Will just sighed and thanked me and I smiled back and said, "No problem!"

And he walked away and I was just sitting there with my hand clenching my spoon so hard that it was white but at least it wasn't _redredred oh **god** it's **everywhere-**_

When lunch rolled around and Niles still hadn't shown up, everyone started getting anxious.

No one talked in more than a whisper and everything was strained and Sanders literally punched the Hermes kid who suggested that maybe he had run away.

Sanders sneered down at the Hermes kid who was clutching his jaw. He spat in his face and turned and walked calmly out of there and all I could this was _don't hit him hit me I deserve it I **killed** him-_

He was missing for two days before the tree nymphs came across the nightmare fuel I had left behind and even now every time I close my eyes it's always _redredred it's **everywhere-**_

Chiron wouldn't let any of the campers near there and that included me and I almost laughed because _I'm **the** one **who** did **it-**_

The Stoll brothers managed to sneak to where the body was before it was removed. They came back with a haunted look in their eyes and refused to talk to anyone about it.

The rumors started to run rampant around Camp.

 _"I heard his face was gone-"_

 _"I heard there was blood everywhere-"_

 _"He was probably killed by some savage beast-"_

I couldn't help but agree.

And when I saw the look in Sanders and Hannah's eyes, I realized that I really, truly was a monster because _Niles is dead and he had so much to live for and now he's gone because **of** me-_

The rumors started to grow more and more outrageous.

 _"They say he was sacrificed to some forgotten god-"_

 _"-killed by a cult that worships-"_

 _"-they're in our camp-"_

 _"-they're campers-"_

 _"-they want to kill more people-"_

I didn't realize how right that last one was.

 **tbc**

-

 **Huh. Anyway, that was fun-ish to right. Getting inside his head was definitely an experience to be remembered.**

 **This was part three out of four (and maybe an Epilogue if I get some inspiration) and I hope you all liked it!**

 **Oh, and if anyone wants to refer to me for some weird reason, call me anna (all lowercase).** **It's short for annapūrṇā (which is not my real name, by the way).**

 **Maybe this way I'll know how many people actually read this.**

 **Review your thoughts. Tell me if you're unsatisfied with something! How else will I grow as a writer?**

 **Anyway, that's it for now! Remember to Favorite, Follow, and Review! This is SSSRHA (or anna) signing out!**


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